


Telling The Family

by StephCassShipper



Series: Under A Spoiled Hood [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Cassandra Cain is Black Bat, Crying, Dick Grayson is Batman, F/F, Gen, Grief, Jason Todd is Red Robin, References to Rebirth Canon, Sadness, Sandra Woosan is Jason Todd's Parent, Stephanie Brown is Red Hood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27696406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephCassShipper/pseuds/StephCassShipper
Summary: Jason tells his family who the Red Hood is.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain/Avery Ho, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Harper Row & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Avery Ho, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Under A Spoiled Hood [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010226
Kudos: 27





	Telling The Family

“It was Stephanie.”

That was the first time Jason had spoken the words, yet despite seeing it for himself, he finds it hard to believe.

Barbara turns around in her wheelchair and looks him up and down, gaging whether he’s joking or not. He wishes it was a joke.

“Stephanie?” she asks after an eternity. “As in Stephanie Brown? The Spoiler?” Jason nods silently and Babs curses under her breath. “She was the one to break into Arkham?”

“And murder Joker and Black Mask.”

“You’re certain of this?”

“Absolutely. She’s… she’s the Red Hood.”

Barbara’s face goes unreadable and it’s moments like this that remind Jason that, when she wants to be, she can be a terrifying force to reckon with.

“I’ll… update the profile,” she says after a while. Jason nods and leaves the Clocktower.

As Jason leaves, a tear rolls down Barbara’s cheek.

* * *

Stephanie Brown is the Red Hood.

Jason wants to deny it, but it’s ridiculous to do so. He saw her face. She outright admitted to him that she was the Red Hood, even telling him how she came back. But he still can’t believe it.

What had happened to the cheerful girl who wanted nothing more than to stop her father, fix her family, and find her place in the world?

 _She died_ , his brain supplies, simultaneously unhelpful and entirely helpful. _But could death really drive someone to kill as much as she does?_

The answer was probably yes. Jason didn’t exactly have a first hand experience in knowing.

True, the world at one point thought that he was dead, both as Jason Peter Todd, second adopted son of Bruce Wayne, and as Robin, the Boy Wonder. And true, Jason had killed before. But he had never died. He was rescued by Lady Shiva, his mother, before the bomb went off.

 _If you_ had _died, you would be in her position_ , his mind tells him. He shoves the thought out of his head and continues on.

* * *

“I heard the news,” Dick says from next to Jason. Jason turns to look at his brother. The second Batman.

Christ, this family was a mess now.

“About what?”

“Stephanie,” Dick says nonchalantly, although his posture betrays how worried he is about the situation. “I read the file after it was updated.” Dick sighs, and the decade of stress that has accumulated in the three weeks as Batman escapes through the hot air. He’s tired, Jason can tell. This new revelation won’t help with the exhaustion at all.

“What do we do about her?” Dick shakes his head.

“I don’t know. She’s… she’s one of us, you know? Was, at least. We’ve never encountered anything like this.” Another sigh. “Bruce would have handled this better.”

“Don’t say that,” Jason says immediately. “We don’t know how he would have handled this. Especially with the knowledge that it’s Stephanie.”

The two brothers look each in the eye and a wave of understanding passes through them. The knowledge that Stephanie is the Red Hood would either lead to redemption or a worse villain on their hands had Bruce still been alive. His relationship with Stephanie was always volatile and unpredictable, always shifting from verbal hostility to amicable teamwork. Sometimes both at the same time.

Who knows how much it would change regarding both Bruce’s grief at her death and her killing people now?

“You’re right,” Dick says, pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighs one last time before pulling a grapple gun out of his utility belt and disappearing in the night.

* * *

“It took you long enough to figure out, Todd,” a voice says from behind Jason. Internally, the twenty-one year old groans, and he turns around to confront the newest addition to his band of siblings. Damian Wayne, Bruce’s only biological child - a fact he was too proud of and all too happy to remind his siblings of - and the fifth and latest Robin. “I knew Brown was Red Hood from the beginning.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Jason asks, his voice dark. Damian neither flinches nor backs down.

“It didn’t seem important.”

“It’s always important, Robin.”

* * *

Harper can tell that there’s something up with Jason, and Jason can tell that Harper can tell there’s something wrong with Jason. They had known each other much too long to pretend otherwise, ever since the day she volunteered for Leslie Thompkins’ clinic and the doctor had set up Jason to help her with everything she needed to know.

So, Jason spent the day avoiding Harper. But, as luck would have it, she managed to corner him in a supply closet.

“Alright, what’s going on with you? You’re not normally this distracted, Jace.”

“I’m fine, Harper. Now, I need to get these bandages to Dr. Thompkins.”

“We both know that’s a lie, Jace. I saw you deliver her some five minutes ago.” She folds her arms and Jason curses under his breath. “Is it… is it Batman related?”

Jason sighs again and for the hundredth time wonders what in the hell he did to deserve a co-worker so observant that she managed to figure out he was Red Robin the first week they met.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Tell me more,” she says, excited now.

“You remember Stephanie Brown?”

“Of course. I remember seeing her volunteer here a few times before… you know.”

“She’s the Red Hood.” Harper’s eyes widen.

"You mean, like, the criminal Red Hood or some other one I don’t know about.”

“What do you think, Harper?” She blinks in surprise.

"Wow. That is… wow.”

“Now, can we please continue our shift?” Harper nods and opens up the door, letting Jason walk past her.

* * *

Jason knew Tim was a mess.

Bruce was Tim’s father and Tim was Bruce’s son, even before the adoption papers. Hell, even before Jackson Drake died and Tim’s aunt Dinah declined to take the boy in, citing health reasons as an excuse. And Bruce’s death had devastated him.

What would telling Tim that Stephanie Brown was back in the worst way possible accomplish?

It would break him, perhaps beyond repair.

But Jason had to tell him. If he didn’t, Tim would find out on his own anyways and it would be worse than if Jason just gets it over with now.

Tim’s video feed turns on. His hair was a mess and it looks like he hadn’t slept in days, maybe even weeks.

“I heard you wanted to talk,” he says, his voice scratchy from exhaustion and maybe a little crying.

No, scratch that. A lot of crying.

“I have… news.” Jason sighs and bites the bullet. “Stephanie is back.” Immediately, Tim perks up and Jason cringes at how this will go.

“She is?” he asks much too excitedly. “Where is she? Is she in the cave with you? I don’t se-”

“Tim,” Jason says sternly, trying to calm the boy. Which, surprisingly, works. Tim takes a long look at Jason’s face and realizes something’s off.

“What’s wrong?” he demands.

“She’s the Red Hood.” Tim’s eyes grow wide before narrowing down.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying, Tim. I’m sorry.” Tim stares at his brother's face, searching for anything to betray the notion that this was a cruel joke - _Much like Barbara_ , Jason notes silently - before he finally collapses and buries his head in his hands.

Had he any tears left, he would have surely cried.

Jason shuts off the video feed.

* * *

“Tell me it’s not true!” Cass yells.

“I’m sorry, Cass,” Jason tells her. He couldn’t be sorrier, and Cass knows this.

But emotion comes before rationality and before she stops herself, she’s running away from Jason, grappling through the tall buildings of Hong Kong.

Jason collapses, the grief of what he had learned just a few days ago catching up. A few quiet sobs escape his breath as memories of a bright young girl who he had dreamed of calling his sister flow through his mind, almost relentlessly.

Eventually, a hand places itself onto Jason’s shoulder and he glances up.

The purple costume, with a gold lightning bolt on her chest, is the first thing he notices about this girl and it takes Jason a minute to remember that, oh yeah, there’s a Chinese division of the Justice League now, and they have their own Flash, and said Flash was dating his sister.

“I went through something similar,” the girl, Avery Ho, tells him. “A friend of mine was murdered by a man named August Heart. And when she came back, she was… she was brainwashed by Grodd. Fought us. We freed her, but…”

“But the pain was still there,” Jason finishes for her. She nods.

“I don’t know much about this ‘Stephanie Brown’ girl. Cass never talks about her much, aside from when she talks in her sleep. And whatever I could find online is just that she died. Nothing about who she was, really.”

“Stephanie was… bright. In both personality and in intelligence. She was determined, perhaps more than anyone else in the family. It was a tragedy when she died.”

“I assume it’ll be a bigger one when this is all over.”

“Most definitely.”

“Then I wish you luck, Red Robin.” And with a semi playful wave goodbye and a streak of purple lightning, she’s gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, two chapters in one day. Don't expect this often.
> 
> I couldn't resist that little reference to actual canon where Jason for real died and became the Red Hood and Stephanie fake died and went under a different title.
> 
> Yeah, I snuck in a little reference in there about my longest standing Tim Drake headcanon that he is cousins with Dinah Lance. The Dinah mentioned in the story is Dinah Drake, who is the mother of the Dinah we're all more familiar with and the original Black Canary. I know she's actually dead in the comics and has been for a long time (yes, I'm willfully ignoring that weird thing post-Flashpoint where Dinah is now just a younger version of her mom and herself rolled into one person), but if DC can shit all over canon, why can't the fans?
> 
> Speaking of continuity issues, Dick's line about how they've never had to deal with one of their own going bad is not an error in this storyline. Cass's whole "going evil" thing from the One Year Later story has been changed drastically in this universe, and I will be explaining everything in a future chapter.


End file.
